Tape dispensers for pressure sensitive adhesive tape are well known and widely used. Most such dispensers provide for the severing of the tape by use of a cutting edge fixed on the outside of the dispenser. Such fixed cutters are only marginally effective in serving the tape and often take both hands to use. Such cutters frequently are dull because, due to their exposed position, they are susceptible to being hit against objects during use of the dispenser. Also, if the cutting member is made too sharp it is dangerous to the user. The stationary cutter is also found to be ineffective because it requires a considerable tensile force to be exerted on the tape before it will sever the tape, sometimes to the point of causing the tape to crease and to pull from the surface to which it has been applied.
To alleviate such problems there have been other solutions suggested, generally in the area of providing movable cutters which can be actuated into a position to contact and sever the tape. Some examples of such dispensers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,737, Device for applying Adhesive Tape, issued to Burns on Jan. 10, 1950; U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,779, Tape Applicator, issued to Pearson on Nov. 26, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,956, Pressure Sensitive Tape Applicating System, issued to Thompson on Sept. 2, 1975; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,328, Tape Cutter, issued to Urishizaki on June 27, 1978. While such applicators frequently will allow the tape to be applied with one hand while leaving the other hand free to hold the material being taped, still the mechanisms are quite complicated and expensive to make. Additionally, the cutter members usually function while stationarily positioned relative to the tape thereby still requiring a considerable tensile force to be applied to the tape for the cutter to be effective. These devices do offer the advantage, however, of protecting the cutter thereby permitting it to remain sharp, and in most instances, permitting resonably safe use of the cutter.
One other example of a dispenser with a cutter is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,835, Apparatus for Laminating and Cutting Including a Pair of Rollers with Cutting Edges, issued to Chen, et al., on Apr. 15, 1969. This dispenser recognizes the benefits of providing a cutting member incorporated in cutting rollers to laminate separate sheets of material. The cutting edges on the rollers are flush with or recessed below the surface of the resilient material and do not effect a cutting action until the rollers are pressed together.
Thus it can be seen that while several efforts have been to provide effective cutting mechanisms with dispensers and tape handling devices, all have certain drawbacks primarily involving the complexity of the mechanism or difficulty of use. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide an improved cutting mechanism for a tape dispenser which works effectively while allowing the user to apply the tape with one hand.